Holy Saturday - St. John Lateran & nearby Sancta Sanctorum

 Holy Saturday we revisit the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran bookending Friday with the same Roman Station as Thursday.

This is a view of Plaza San Giovann with the Church to the right.

Adjacent to St. John Lateran is the Sancta Sanctorum. The Sancta Sanctorum (Italian: Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum) is a Roman Catholic chapel entered via the Scala Sancta (Holy Staircase) of the Lateran Palace in Rome. It was the original private chapel of the papacy before it moved to Avignon, and later to the Vatican Palace. The chapel is the only building from the old Lateran Palace that was not destroyed during its reconstruction.
The spelling is Sancta, the neuter plural form of the Latin adjective "holy": this is a reference to the multiple relics preserved there (i.e. "the most holy things") and to the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, traditionally called in Latin both sanctum sanctorum (the singular form) or sancta sanctorum.

You will find there the Santa Scala (Holy Stairs)

According to Roman Catholic tradition, the Holy Stairs were the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus Christ stepped on his way to trial during his Passion. The Stairs reputedly were brought to Rome by Saint Helena in the fourth century.
The walls and vault of the staircase are decorated with frescoes in seven separate registers including the first one in the entrance bay. Pilgrums are only allowed to assend the stairs on their knees.

The marble stairs are now protected with wooden boards, which have slits on the risers so that you can see the actual stone.

On the second, eleventh and twenty-eighth steps are little peep-holes intended to show rust stains on the marble traditionally regarded as having been caused by Christ's blood.

The top of the staircase faces a Crucifixion by Cesare Nebbia, which is visible to you all the way up.

At the top landing of the stairs is a barred window for viewing the Scala Sanctorum. The passage to the rignt leads to the Church of San Lorenzo in Palatio.

The Sancta Sanctorum is a precious mediaeval survival. From the top landing of the Scala Sancta the chapel can be viewed through this barred window. It is well worth the cost of the guided tour that will take you inside the chapel.

Main altar of the Sancta Sanctorum, There is more to see inside..